Alleviating Anxiety and Cultivating Care: Young Trans People in the Family Court of Australia

Abstract

The distress and anxiety faced by young trans(gender) people generates varied social, medical, and legal concerns. In Australia, minors have had to appeal to the jurisdiction of the Family Court of Australia if they wished to undergo medical or surgical changes to their bodies in order to alleviate ‘gender dysphoria’ and affirm their gender. In approving almost every application to date and, most recently, dispensing with the requirement to seek Court approval, the Family Court has exhibited care, concern, and compassion when addressing anxieties faced by young trans people and formulating therapeutic determinations to relieve those anxieties. This paper maps out this affective terrain – the alleviation of anxiety and cultivation of care – by exploring key appellate Family Court decisions relating to young trans people made between 2004 and 2018. A queer engagement with Australian Family Court decisions enables us to consider the extent to which alleviating anxiety and cultivating care secure the wellbeing of young trans and gender non-conforming people.